State-Financed Preschools Seen Yielding Gains

At a time when states are assuming a larger role in the education of
very young children, a study has found that state-financed preschool
programs are adequately preparing youngsters to handle the demands of
kindergarten and 1st grade.

Walter S. Gilliam and Edward F. Zigler, both researchers from the
Yale University Child Study Center, reviewed evaluations from 12 states
and the District of Columbia and found that, in general,
prekindergarten and other preschool programs paid for by states had
improved children's readiness for school. The programs helped, for
example, in fostering social, motor, language, cognitive, and literacy
skills.

"These state-funded preschool programs may help children enter
school with a greater level of developmental competence, helping
children to perform better in school during the critical early years,"
according to the study, which was released last week and appears in the
March 28 issue of the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. The
journal is published by the Washington-based National Association for
the Education of Young Children.

Data from six of the states also suggest that such programs are
preventing children from being held back a grade during their early
schooling—a finding that the researchers say "may be one of the
most robust" for state-financed preschools.

States Studied

For their study, "A Critical Meta-analysis of All
Evaluations of State-Funded Preschool From 1977 to 1998:
Implications for Policy, Service Delivery, and Program Evaluation,"
Walter S. Gilliam and Edward F. Zigler examined evaluations from
the following:

Arkansas

Michigan

District of
Columbia

New York

Florida

South
Carolina

Georgia

Texas

Kentucky

Vermont

Louisiana

Washington

Maryland

For their analysis, the authors defined a state-funded preschool as
one that serves children ages 3 to 5, provides some kind of
classroom-based educational experience, and is "primarily funded and
administered at the state level."

It is common, though, for states to offer such services through a
range of providers, including public schools and child- care
centers.

Lasting Impact?

The authors also conclude, however, that state preschool
initiatives, which have grown dramatically in recent years, might not
be living up to the expectations that some policymakers have set for
them, at least according to the findings of the evaluations.

The effects of the programs are not as dramatic as those of some
small, experimental programs, such as the High/Scope Perry Preschool
Project, which began in Ypsilanti, Mich., in the 1960s and has been
found to have lasting effects into adulthood.

For example, the studies from the states—which were conducted
either by state education agencies or by outside organizations such as
universities—suggest that the preschool programs are not having a
significant effect on children's behavior.

"The potential for preschool programs to serve as a preventive for
later delinquency has attracted attention, and the general lack of
positive impacts in this area is interesting," the authors write. The
way the data on behavior outcomes were collected could provide an
explanation, they add.

Florida, for instance, was the only state in which lasting effects
on children's behavior were found. It was also the only state where
evaluators actually reviewed discipline records. In other states that
focused on the question, more subjective teacher or caregiver ratings
were used. Mr. Gilliam and Mr. Zigler also looked at whether the state
evaluations showed long-term benefits for the children who attended
those preschool programs that have existed long enough for such results
to be examined. While Maryland and New York have demonstrated positive
effects into middle and high school, most states have found that the
advantage for children fades out a year or two after they enter
elementary school.

"These findings question the utility of holding preschool programs
accountable for sustaining impacts beyond kindergarten or 1st grade,"
the authors write. "Because the primary stated goal of most all of
these state preschool programs is the promotion of school readiness,
evaluations of preschool program should arguably focus chiefly on
impacts at the time of school entry."

In an interview last week, Mr. Gilliam said that while preschool
programs are giving young children the skills they need for a good
start, it then "becomes the school's job to sustain" that
growth.

Limitations Found

The study also demonstrates the variability in how large-scale
preschool programs are being evaluated at the state level.

While the researchers looked at evaluations from a dozen states and
the District of Columbia, they actually could draw conclusions from
only 10 of them, because three of the state evaluations—those
from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Vermont—did not include a
comparison group of similar children who did not attend the
program.

Instead, those three states used tests of the children's performance
before and after enrollment in the programs, a form of evaluation that
Mr. Gilliam and Mr. Zigler found to have "serious methodological
limitations."

"We don't find results in these programs, partly because they are
watered-down programs and partly because they are watered-down
evaluations," Mr. Gilliam said.

States are also not asking the same questions about their preschool
programs. Twelve of the 13 evaluations, for instance, examined
children's developmental progress, four looked at impacts on children's
behavior, one state—Washington—gathered data on children's
health, and three collected information on parental involvement.

Marilou Hyson, the associate executive director for professional
development at the NAEYC, said she was concerned that many states that
were spending money on preschool programs were not following up with
money for research on them.

"You can't do good evaluation on the cheap," she said.

The Yale researchers concluded that the evaluations, in spite of
their differences, provide the best assessment of whether publicly
financed preschool programs are benefiting young children, most of whom
come from low-income families.

"Considerably more needs to be known about the effectiveness of
state-funded preschool programs," however, the authors write, so that
the policymakers who are making decisions about the funding and
governance of such programs can have accurate information.

Ms. Hyson added that she hopes state leaders don't lose their
enthusiasm for providing funding for programs based on preliminary
studies that are not well-designed.

In fact, some of the programs might be doing a better job than the
evaluations indicate, said Anne Mitchell, the founder of Early
Childhood Policy Research, a consulting group based in Climax, N.Y.

"If the methodological problems were corrected, you would probably
have even more positive findings," Ms. Mitchell said.

Mr. Gilliam and Mr. Zigler recommend several guidelines for future
evaluations of state preschool programs.

For example, they say, researchers should focus on outcomes that are
realistic and are related to the goals of the programs, and they should
use valid, reliable tests. And when random assignment to a preschool
program or a control group is not possible, the authors recommend,
researchers should use "the most comparable contrast groups
possible."

Coverage of research is underwritten by a grant from the Spencer
Foundation.

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